It’s pathological. I’m not trying to play him as a complete villain, really, although he had his hand in many of the more treacherous acts or events we’ve seen over seven seasons. Most of them, in fact.

There’s always something more to it when it involves the Starks, given his history with Catelyn Stark and that rejection, and that that’s what’s driving him. But I wouldn’t say the undermining of the Stark family has been a goal. It’s opportunistic.

He added:

He couldn’t have foretold that Arya was going to show up again, and that Bran was going to show up again. He has played his part in the rise of the Starks, showing up last season with the Knights of the Vale, but he will also undermine it and exploit it.

That’s what he’s doing — he’s trying to drive wedges between all of them.

HBO

As for Littlefinger’s affection for Sansa Stark, Gillen said:

I’m not really playing a romantic interest there. I know that’s how it appears, but it’s something slightly different.

[He’s] kind of mentoring, in terms of schooling Sansa in the ways of manipulation, the ways to play the game, or the ways to survive.